Mortal Kombat: Guardians
by Vamprachaun
Summary: Before the Mortal Kombat Tournament, before they were enemies, they were guardians. The story of how Raiden became the guardian of Earthrealm and how Shao Kahn became ruler of Outworld.
1. Chapter 1: The Dragon King

_**Mortal Kombat: Guardians**_

_Chapter 1_: _The Dragon King_

_The Realm of Gongi_

The dead of night. The full moon shines over the landscape. It is almost lifeless. Save for the

sounds of war that erupt below the lunar spotlight.

Screams of Agony.

Cries of Fear.

Clang of Metal.

Splatter of Blood.

The Roaring of Battle.

The ancient metropolis was left in disarray after only a few hours of battle. They faced no

ordinary army. They knew this when the portal opened and out of it, a horde...no...a plague of

armored samurai-esque warriors, covered head to toe in steel-plated armor studded with spikes.

And even more horrifyingly were the helmets. Horned with oni-masks obscuring the faces of the

warriors. They spilled out of the portal and surrounded the entrance to the city. Another thirty

seconds and they were inside. And after another thirty...it began. The unsuspecting crowd of

civilians were cut down by the first wave of soldiers as if they were nothing. They were there, and

then not. It did not take long for the carnage to ensue.

Parents gathered their children in their arms before the warriors could get to them.

Unfortunately...some were unsuccessful. The shopkeepers, vagrants, and others were suffered the

same misfortune. The first wave flooded farther into the city leaving more bodies in their wake. As

the invasion continued it seemed...personal. The soldiers invaded buildings and homes in the

midst of their massacre. Chasing down those victims whom they missed as if there was an axe to

grind. This only accentuated the horror.

Finally the city's personal guard was deployed. There was a wave of archers climbing atop

buildings to gain vantage points while the ground troops ran the streets to meet the invaders head

on. One could practically hear the force of the two military forces colliding in the square as armor,

flesh and bone were all destroyed under the weight of the heavy weapons wielded on both sides of

the conflict. The samurai warriors pierced the guardsmen with their spearheads and the

guardsmen broke the helms of the invaders with their axes and clubs. The invading army seemed

to finally be pushed back from the square as many of them were cut down by the vengeful

guardsmen, others succumbing to the rain of arrows deployed by the archers. The opposition were

crushed under axes, skewered by blades and decimated by arrows. A horrific site, but it marked

the start of triumph for Gongi. It seemed that the metropolis would be making a comeback in this

impromptu war. But something unfounded occurred.

The fallen invaders began to twitch. Some guardsmen disregarded this as the aftershocks of

death, but they became more aggressive and frequent. Then they began to rise.

Bodies...seemingly dead bodies began to rise from the ground where they were slain. Adorned

with body-piercing arrows, broken helmets and in some cases; missing limbs. Under the broken

pieces of armor the flesh of the invaders could be seen but it was not a healthy shade of white or

brown like the citizens of Gongi, their flesh was grey and decayed. The invaders were rising back

up because they were undead. This would not end well.

The surprise of it all began to sink in as more of the bodies began to rise again and soon the

battle seemed to pause. Then a guardsmen was beheaded by one of the assumed dead invaders

and just like that, the carnage continued in full. The invaders once again have the advantage.

They seemingly never tired and by the looks of things, there was more of them flooding into the

city. Above the city stood a large palace. The emperor of Gongi stared out at the horrific sight of

his great city being tarnished by these invaders. His empress sat close by in her throne. She was

fearful. The emperor walked to his empress and knelt in front of her and clasped her hands in his.

"Mirah?" She did not answer. She did not even acknowledge his presence with so much of a look.

"Mirah?" he repeated and gripped her hands tighter in his own. She turned her head ever so

slightly to him, facing him but not looking at him.

"My darling, this...this…" He had no words to comfort her. Not in his own being. So he dug deep

for fake words that were not his own.

"This is not the end of us."

The words came out of his mouth slowly and awkwardly. A blatant lie that he could not even

commit himself to. Empress Mirah finally looked the emperor in his eyes.

"You've never lied to me in all these years Sabo, please do not start now." Emperor Sabo could

only look at her dumbfounded. And then enraged.

"Then what do you suggest!? That we lay down!? Surrender to these...crusaders!?" He rose to his

feet quickly and paced around the room.

"This realm is one of dignity and bravery and I will not bow to a ruler who will not even show his

face to me!"

"We should have just taken Outworld's offer. This calamity could have been avoided and now…"

She could not finish as tears began to swell in her eyes. Sabo stopped his pacing and looked at

his distraught wife.

"Mirah. Onaga will not-"

He couldn't finish a resounding explosion rung through the city. They both approached the large

window of the throne room that allowed them to overlook Gongi and saw a distressing sight. An

entire building had been leveled in the square was left as nothing but rubble. Stone and iron filled

the middle of the city, all crushed and covered with wild flames. In the middle stood a lone being.

The distance between the royal palace and the square obscured the being's features but it's

outline was unmistakably large. Monstrous. Emperor Sabo was lost. But something had to be

done.

"I...I have to go!"

He ran out of the throne room at the expense of his wife's pleas. He needed to be there for his

people, not standing uselessly in his tower. He needed to fight. Sabo ran out of the tower and

toward the square as quickly as he could, running past his citizens and guards. He did his best to

ignore the broken bodies of the dead as he ran.

He finally was upon the city square and he saw the being responsible for the destruction. It was

indeed a monster. The creature was reptilian with dark green scaly skin and gargantuan, Easily

the size of three large men. It had large wings on it's back, hooved feet, large clawed, three-

fingered hands. Large horns protruded from the top of the creature's head and on his face were

four glowing yellow eyes, two on each side of his face. It also had a long tail curled around it's

person. The creature locked eyes with Sabo and began to move toward the emperor. The way that

the beast moved was, oddly enough, not beast-like at all. It walked with even and confident steps

with a straight posture. There was an attitude in the creature's stride; one that gave the image of

an untouchable, even indestructible being. It was the stride of a ruler. This creature was _Onaga_.

Ruler of Outworld; the _Dragon King, _and, most importantly, the one responsible for this invasion.

Onaga's steps literally shook the earth. He approached Sabo menacingly and looked down on him,

a displeased look on his grotesque face. He began to speak. His voice was otherworldly; equally as

earth-shattering as his steps.

"You were warned"

Three simple words and Onaga spread his large wings and roared a beastly roar. The crusaders

that he commanded were unleashed upon the rest of the city and Onaga flew into the sky. The

force of the wind that the Dragon King's mighty wings produced as he flew off knocked Sabo off

his feet and tumbling across the ground. The invaders made quick work of the rest of the

guardsmen and the remaining civilians stood no chance. The emperor stood among his decimated

people, broken. He lay among the corpses, unable to move. Suddenly, a vice clamped around his

head, nearly crushing his skull. He was then lifted high into the air.

"Your cooperation was never needed. It was a courtesy. Your realm would be mine regardless. My offer was a display of mercy; one that

you denied. And now..."

Onaga flew over the deteriorating metropolis with Sabo hanging by his head in his large claw

toward the royal palace. They soared to the top in front of the large window to Sabo's throne room.

He pressed the emperor's face against the glass, and the sight was spirit-breaking. Emperor Mirah

lay in the middle of the throne room, impaled by a spear with a group of Onaga's soldiers

surrounding her carcass. Sabo could barely comprehend what he saw.

"...your realm suffers."

The resounding boom of the Dragon King's voice was easily drowned under the despair of the

emperor. His realm. His wife. Everything was gone. All he could feel was the emptiness that his

damnable invasion left him.

"My fault…"

Sabo's only thought as Onaga released his head from his mighty grip. He fell headfirst, caring

nothing of his own fate. Only those two persistent words...

"My fault..."

He hit the ground. Head bursting upon impact with the ground. Onaga looked down on his

handy-work for a mere second before he gave the order to his soldiers.

"Annihilate everything. Until there is nothing left to conquer. This pitiful realm is not worthy of merging with us."

Annihilation.

_This is the first fanfiction I've ever written and one of the only things I've ever written that I'm putting in a place for public consumption so I'm very open to reviews and feedback but note; only constructive criticism will be accepted. I do plan on writing this story to completion but I am currently a high school student making a transition to college so trying to balance this with all of my necessary shit will be difficult. But that being said I'm a huge MK fan and I wanted to write this because this has always been an origin that I was interested in that I don't think has ever really been explored so I'm doing it now :) Again reviews would be appreciated and I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter._


	2. Chapter 2: Ascending

**Chapter 2**: _Ascending _

_The Heavens_

Raiden watched the astral projection with a reserved horror.

"Onaga's crusade to merge the realms has become especially destructive. Too many innocent lives had been erased because of his ambitions." Raiden thought aloud.

"Which is precisely why you are here young one. "

Raiden jumped at the sudden voice.

"Lord Argus...my apologies I was engrossed in the unfortunate events. Forgive my distraction."

The form that Raiden saw Argus in was a blue astral projection, much like the one used to show him the destruction of Gongi. The projection had glowing white eyes and appeared to sport wild hair and a beard. Argus appeared before Raiden and placed his ethereal hand on Raiden's shoulder.

"There was no transgression, Raiden. Your empathy and compassion was precisely why we chose you to ascend."

Raiden had been going through the possibilities of what this "ascension" could entail ever since he was visited by Argus in Earthrealm days ago.

"Thank you, Lord Argus. It is a great honor to be a chosen champion of the Elder Gods."

"The honor is ours. Come. Now that we've shown you the situation it's time to introduce you to the others" said Argus as he began to walk to the large door of the chamber.

"There are others?" Raiden asked surprised. Argus only looked back at him and simply smiled. His form dissipated, leaving Raiden in the large chamber alone.

The large door in front of him opened seemingly of its own fruition and revealed a blinding white light. Raiden shielded his eyes from the light and as the intensity dissipated Raiden saw what he assumed was his intended destination. The chamber he currently occupied was connected to a narrow walkway that led to a circular platform. The platform also has several other walkways connected to it and all of them stretched forward from similar doorways to the one that Raiden was currently in. Raiden observed his surroundings in awe as he followed the Argus projection toward the platform.

_This place...it's like I've entered another world. This room, if it can be called that, seemingly never ends._

"Where are we my lord?"

Argus had, again, startled Raiden by appearing in his astral form next to him.

"It is a pocket dimension forged by myself and my fellow Elder Gods for the purpose of meeting together without the worry of intervention from...ambitious mortals. You are among a select group of that has, and will ever, have the honor to be here."

"The privilege is not lost on me, my lord," Raiden said, showing his gratitude.

"Good." said Argus as he began to move forward.

Argus led Raiden across the walkway toward the large platform. It was made of stone, Raiden could see as he got closer to it; as if a large boulder was carved from a mountain. This dimension that he was in...it was as if he was actually nowhere. There was no concrete location, no structures or skies, just endless space. As he looked down and saw that the platform bore the symbol of the elder gods; a fierce dragon enclosed in a circle. Argus, once again, disappeared disappeared but reappeared as a large torso behind Raiden, as did the other Gods and their champions.

Raiden looked around and saw whom he assumed were the "others". They all stood in circle surrounding the Elder God's seals. To Raiden's right he saw whom he assumed was a man. He looked like a normal man save for his face; it seemed to be decaying. Raiden shook off the surprise and looked to his left where he saw another male; this one with long white hair similar to his own but his worn in a high ponytail. He also wore from the neck down striking dark green armor with two flags towering over him on each shoulder. His attire made him look very insect like.

Raiden looked directly in front of him and saw yet another male, but unlike the others this one actually seemed to notice him. A large brutish man with piercing orange eyes; inhuman eyes, with horns seeming protruding from his brow to the back of his head. It seemed he was staring at him this entire time. He saw Raiden looking back and it seemed he had no intention of breaking eyesight as he wore an amused smirk as he continued to stare.

From what realm does he hail? Netherrealm. Is he an Oni?

Raiden's thoughts were interrupted by the commanding collective voice of the Gods. They said in unison:

**"You are all here because you are among the most courageous, skilled, honorable, powerful and just of your realms. It is because of this that we chose you to be the spiritual representatives of your realms"**

Raiden was surprised; he did not think himself any of those things. He looked around and saw similar expressions of shock. The winged vampress woman looked as if the honor was too much for her to bear as she began to shed joyful tears. There was also whom he assumed was a Zaterran woman (Raiden honestly had trouble differentiating the genders of their people) give a pleased smile. He also saw some who were unimpressed, such as the one to his left whom looked, not like being ascended into godhood was a privilege that almost no one in his room would ever be awarded, but rather as if this was an honor due to him since birth. In short: he didn't look to be Raiden's kind of person. He also looked to the brute to his front, who still looked Raiden right in the eyes as opposed to reacting to the announcement.

**"You will be our chosen champions. The guardians of your realms. You will be extensions of our will in the name of maintaining eternal balance throughout the realms. Congratulations."**

All of a sudden bright light erupted from under every single one of the chosen, engulfing them. Raiden saw nothing but white; he believed that he was dead. But no...he was very much alive. More than alive...he was empowered.

Raiden looked around to his fellow guardians and saw them apparently feeling the same surge of power. He looked down at his hands and hands and they were absolutely pulsating with electricity. He commanded the lightning to do what he wished with the simplest of hand movements. He balled them into fists and the lightning became more intense and with relaxed hands the lightning also relaxed; only small sparks danced across his finger tips.

_I've never had this much this much control over it before. It's as if it has become apart of my being. I feel….amazing! Invincible even!_

**"Now, you are all officially guardians. We trust you will follow through on your protective responsibilities. You will now be returned to your realms."**

With another flash the guardians were transported out of the plane of the Elder Gods and back to their respective worlds. All except two.

"I...am still here," Raiden said in confusion. He looked around for the nth time and saw that indeed the other guardians had been discharged but he remained in the same spot...he and the oni that stood across from him, and just like before the being continued to stare him down. It seemed that he was not even affected by the surge of Godly power granted to him. For the first time Raiden began to get irritated by this….person.

"**Step forward."** boomed the collective voice of the Elder Gods. Raiden and the creature did as they were commanded until they finally met in the middle of the large platform. They were face-to-face, or rather face-to-chest. This was the first time Raiden noticed his size. Raiden was no small being himself as he stood at 7" tall so to mortals (as Raiden supposed he should now refer to them as) he was already a giant. But this creature was gargantuan; he had to be at the very least 9". He towered over Raiden and looked down on him with those same piercing orange eyes, that same arrogant smirk.

"There is a reason that you both remain while the others were sent back to their respective realms. We have a special mission that, through very careful consideration, we have decided that you two are the most qualified to carry out. Raiden of Earthrealm. Shao Kahn of Outworld. You will be working to thwart the plans of the Dragon King; Onaga."

Raiden and Shao Kahn never broke eye contact.

_Two chapters down umm...some undetermined amount left to go. I'm honestly not super proud of this chapter. I feel it may be boring to some people since I was honestly kind of bored writing it but regardless I also felt it was necessary to include. I wanted to do a whole chapter before this one about Raiden and Shao Kahn's individual back-stories but I honestly felt like simply revealing little pieces throughout the story would be a better choice. Like Raiden's line about the lightning. Small things like that. Anyways I hope I can pick up the pace again with the next chapter. Let me know what you guys think. I didn't get any reviews for the first chapter so do me a favor and drop one for this one if you can. If you're enjoying this I' really like feedback on how to make it better._


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